Rules of Being the Youngest
by bigbangtheoryk8
Summary: What does being the youngest mean to Michelangelo Hamato? Why do fanfiction writers ask so many questions in their summaries? Why abbreviate the words 'Read' and 'Review? And most importantly- where was I going with this? Anyway, here are some rules that I have observed being the youngest and the cutest turtle's experience with them
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, it's your favorite little nerd (I hope) back again. I am experiencing EXTREME writers block on the Criminal Minds front and have recently gotten obsessed with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as childish as that sounds, but I am a child so frack it and I have problems with run-on sentences. Anyway, when I was four, I was SOOOOOOO obsessed with TMNT and my favorite was Leo (I forget why, maybe it's because he's so friggin sexy and that was sarcasm because he's a turtle, though I must admit he is sexy for a turtle but then they all are and- oh my god shut up!) But now my favorite is Mikey because he's funny and SO cute like a little teddy bear. I have memorized the theme song for the 2012 one and annoy the shell out of people by rapping it. Hehe. At my school, we have to choose names in our language and this one guy is Raphael so I started calling him, "Raphie boy" because that's what Mikey sometimes called Raph and then I was like, 'If he's Raphie, then I'm Mikey because Mikey calls him Raph'. So I'm Mikey and my friend, Melissa (Shout out because she's so awesome) is Donatello because she's so much smarter than me, but she's like a mix between Donnie and Leo and we can't find a Leo because he's so wise and leader-y and I know no one like that – Kate! Stop rambling! I'm sorry, I talk too much. **

**Anyway, I got the idea for this story from 'Unofficial Rules of the Enterprise' by Dannerose (Check it out, especially if you love Chekov being adorable) and my own experiences from being the youngest in my family. These are some things that I believe Michelangelo and I have in common. So without further ado, this is my take on being the youngest. Don't judge.**

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Rules of Being the Youngest

1) Be annoying, it is expected

2) Don't be afraid to use the Puppy dog eyes

3) Crying will only work so many times

4) Just because you think you can fit in small spaces doesn't mean you should try

5) If they laugh at your jokes, it's probably forced

6) If your brothers try to shield you from something and tell you not to watch it, for god's sake heed their warnings!

7) Parents aren't always sympathetic to the youngest

8) Do not your brothers' food

9)Older brothers know everything, don't question them

10) Mockery is _not_ the highest form of flattery

11) Youngest = idiot (it's just expected that they're smarter than you)

12) Even though you are they youngest, you probably have the dirtiest mind

13) You can't expect everyone to use your made up words

14) Being youngest is both a blessing and a curse


	2. Rule 1

**Okay, so this chapter I asked my brother what annoying things I have done to him and I ninja turtlized them. This chapter may seem like t cest but it isn't because I think it's disgusting it's just brotherly love and annoying younger sibling stuff. The last one is based off the time I locked my brother outside and had to hold the combination lock closed and he had a sledgehammer but he was just a fat little kid at that time (No offence, I love you, bro) so he couldn't even lift it but it was still scary even though I knew he wouldn't hurt me. Hehe. I have also incorporated by nickname for **_**my **_**brother, see if you can find what it is. Okay no more ado, stop with the ado, Kate.**

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Rule 1- Be annoying, it is expected

Michelangelo sighed as he let his comic book fall in his lap. So _bored_! He perused his comic book collection again. He had read them all _so_ many times. He sat and thought about what he could do to ease the boredom. Was there anything good on tv? Well, he couldn't very well know sitting in his room, now could he? Mikey stood and skipped out of the his fortress of solitude and into the living room. He saw Raphael sitting on the couch, staring at some mindless wrestling match. Mikey knew he would never get to watch what he wanted with Raph in the room. But suddenly, it didn't matter. Because now he could take part in his favorite past time- annoying his brothers.

Mikey flashed an award winning grin, baby blue eyes shining with mischief. In a second he was bouncing on the couch next to his annoyed brother, hollering, "Hi, Raphie boy!"

Raph turned to glare at him. "Don't call me that."

"Is something wrong, Raphie boy?" Mikey asked, stilling bouncing on his knees. Raph reached out and tried to keep him down, but Mikey was already off the couch and jumping on Raph's other side with his boundless energy and the hothead huffed, turning back towards to tv in an effort to avoid the lively nuisance. Mikey giggled and dramatically raised a pointer finger, the rest of his hand curled into a fist, and poked Raph's cheek slowly, pulling back quickly before Raph could get him. He repeated this four times before Raph grabbed his finger and twisted it. Mikey let out a high, girlish scream that only he could do.

Raph let go in surprise at seeing the pain on his baby brother's face as Leo, Donnie, and Splinter rushed into the room. Leo and Donnie had their weapons out with identical looks of panic on their faces. All three mutants looked around and relaxed, seeing that there was no threat and their facial expressions suddenly turned to annoyance as they glared at the two brothers on the couch. Mikey whipped up some crocodile tears and sniffed, holding out his finger.

"Donnie," He whimpered in a voice that even made Master Splinter want to say, 'aww'. Mikey sure did know how to be cute. He held out his throbbing finger. "Raphie hurt me."

"Wonder why." Leo murmured. "What did you do, Mikey?"

Mikey groaned, the tears magically gone. "I was just being my usual charming self."

Leo nodded and walked away, muttering something about annoying younger brothers and interrupting his meditation, Master Splinter followed, an amused smirk playing on his rat snout while Donatello sighed and held his arm out to Mikey, ushering him to his lab. "Let's take a look at that, Mikey."

"Okay," Mikey said, not moving but glancing at his finger.

"Mikey?" Donnie said, glaring at his brother.

"I'm looking at it," Mikey said. "Are you looking at it? Mission accomplished." Mikey smirked.

"Get in here." Donnie growled, barely containing his laughter at Raph's glare as Mikey rolled off the couch and jumped to his feet, following his genius brother into his lab.

Donnie sat the giant ball of energy in his swivel chair and Mikey held out his hand and giggled. "This is my middle finger."

"Grow up." Donnie rolled his eyes and looked that the 'injury'. After one split second, he said, "You're fine." And pushed Mikey out of his chair to sit at his workspace and continue his project. Distractedly, he asked, "So, why were you bothering Raph anyway?"

"I was bored!" Mikey moaned. "What are you doing, Donnie? Can I help?"  
"I highly doubt it, Mikey, considering last time you 'helped' you almost blew up the lair." Donnie said, not bothering to look at his little brother as he reached across the desk to get the chlorine trifluoride. Mikey tried to grab it for him, but Donnie slapped his hand away. "Mikey, these are extremely hazardous chemicals and I can't risk you-"

"Geez, a fella makes one mistake!" Mikey huffed.

"One mistake that you made five- no six times." Donnie shooed him away.

Mikey fell to his knees and grabbed Donnie's shin, resting his head on the genius' knee, crying, "Please let me help, Donnie, I'm _so_ bored!"

"Mikey, get off me." Donnie said, trying to shake the orange banded turtle off but his grip was vice like. Don stood and dragged his Mikey covered leg out into the living room. "Raph, help me, please." Donnie pleaded and the red banded turtle spun around upon hearing his named and started laughing at the sight that met him. Donnie was stronger than he looked; but then again, so was Mikey and said turtle was clinging for dear life.

"Hi Donnie." Raph said cheerfully. "What's up?"

Mikey giggled as Donnie shook his leg again to no avail and said again, "Please." Whether he was talking to Raph or Mikey, neither knew, but neither gave in to his plea either.

Don groaned. "You suck, Raph." He said as he dragged his baby brother into Splinter's room. The old rat appeared to be meditating and facing away from the door, but upon hearing his son enter with heavy, dragging footsteps, his ears visibly twitched and he said, "What is it, Donatello?"

"Help?" Was Don's simple answer and as Splinter turned around, he chortled at the sight before him. Michelangelo was clinging to Donatello's leg, beaming up at him, while Donatello avoided his baby brother's gaze and instead glared desperately at Splinter.

"Help with what, Donatello?" Splinter smirked.

"Will you please get him off of me?" Donnie tried again.

"Did you ask him to get off you?"

"Yes."

"Did you ask nicely?"

"No he didn't" Mikey put in. "He didn't even say please. Well, he did say please, but that was to Raph and then he said it again and I don't know if it was to Raphie or me but he still didn't say it nicely."

"Will you let go of your brother if he asks nicely, Michelangelo?" Splinter questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Maybe." Mikey said ominously.

Splinter gestured to Donatello, who sighed and said, "Mikey, will you please let go of me?"

"Well, since you asked nicely. . . " Mikey stood, gave Donnie a hug, then . . .

"Thank y- ew!" Donnie jumped back as Mikey licked his face and ran off giggling to find Leo. Donnie looked at Splinter dubiously and he furiously wiped the saliva off his cheek and ran out of the room to get his hand sanitizer. Why are younger siblings so. . . ugh?

Mikey got on his hands and knees and crawled to the dojo, mewling like a cat. He found Leo instantly, the blue bandana twitching along with his brother's eye.

"Meow." Mikey said as he crawled up to Leo. He stopped right in front of him, rolled on his back, and rested his head on Leo's crossed legs with his own legs curled up to his stomach and his arms swatting at Leo's chin.

Leo sighed. Concentration broken. "Go away. Please, Mikey." He said patiently. Out of all his brothers, he was the most tolerant of Mikey's antics, mostly because he found them cute sometimes. Sometimes.

He tried to whack Mikey's hands away but this only caused Mikey to swat at Leo's hands whilst mewling like Klunk. Leo groaned. "Mikey."

"Meow?"

"What exactly do you hope to accomplish by annoying me?"

"Meow."

"You are not a cat, Mikey."

"Meow"

"Please stop it, Mikey."

"Meow"

"Is there nothing on tv?" Leo still hadn't opened his eyes but he could tell Mikey was grinning as Leo's slipping patience.

"Meow"

"Did you get tired of bothering Raph and Donnie?"

"Meow"

"You bored of playing with Klunk?"

"Meow"

"Are you capable of saying anything else?"

"Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow , meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meeeeeeeeeeeoooooowwwww, meow, meow, meow, meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeooooooooooooowwwwwwwww, mmmmmmeeeeeeoooooowwwwwww, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, ffffffffff, meow, mmmmmmmeeeeeoooooowwwwwwww, meow, meeeeeee-"

"Shut the shell up!" Leo yelled, opening his eyes and pushing Mikey off his lap.

"What is it, big bubba?" Mikey asked innocently.

"Don't call me 'bubba'."

"Why not, big bubba?"

"Because it sounds too cute." Leo said, getting to his feet. Mikey crawled over to him and reached out. "Don't even think about it, Michelangelo." Leo said. He had heard Don and Splinter in the next room and knew if Mikey managed to grab his leg, he would never let go like he had with Don. Mikey looked up at him with those big blue eyes. He was SO cute! Leo sighed and pulled him to his feet. He bent down a bit and Mikey jumped on his shell. Leo hooked his arms under his brother's knees and walked out the lair through the living room, knowing what his brother would want.

"We're going to get a pizza." Leo said and Mikey swiped their human disguises as they passed them and the blue banded turtle sauntered out. Mikey put the hat on top of Leo's head and put on his own.

Mikey let go of Leo's neck to put on his gloves but inadvertently leaned back. They were halfway out of the sewers when a muffled screech rang out in the tunnels as Mikey thrashed and fell off Leo's back.

_THUD!_

"Mikey!"

Darkness

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"Mikey, can you hear me?"

Bright light.

Ouch.

Head hurts.

Medical jargon.

Donnie?

Bright light again.

Is that a penlight?

Injured?

What happened?

Pizza. . . sewers. . .Leo. . . head.

Oh, that's right.

". . . Concussion. . . be . . . care-. . . Le-. . . "

". . not my fau-. . ."

". . . you fu-. . . dropped. . ."

Why was everything so. . . tripping?

Why wasn't anyone speaking full sentences?

Mikey groaned and the voices stopped instantly. Had he gone deaf?

"Mikey?" Nope. No he had not, they were just being quiet. Hmm. That's quite uncharacteristic. He must be pretty bad.

"Bros," Mikey moaned. There was a throbbing in the back of his head and a ringing in his ears. It got louder and louder and soon got plain unbearable. Mikey clapped his hands to his ears even though he knew the sound was inside his head and let out his trademarked girlish scream. He could feel his brothers trying to comfort him and he tried to listen but . . . _damn_ it hurt! They were shouting over his screams and he could just barely make out some words.

"Mikey! Listen. . . me!"

"Mikey, shut your fu-. . . mouth."

"Lang-. . . Raph."

And then he heard one clear word that rang out above the shouts, screams and ringing, "Michelangelo!" And felt a paw rest on his throbbing head. He stopped screaming, the throbbing died down a little, and the ringing stopped. Mikey sighed in relief and leaned into Splinter's touch and the old rat rubbed his thumb across his son's forehead. Someone had lain Mikey down during his fit and he suddenly realized he was lying on a table in Donnie's lab. _What the-?_

"Why . . . table? Want bed." Mikey murmured. He heard some chuckles and smiled at the fact that he could make his brothers laugh even when he had a concussion. _I'm awesome_.

Splinter was moving aside and the paw left his forehead. _Wait head hurts now_. Someone was lifting him up in a bridal carry. _Is that Raph? Hi Raphie_. Mikey tried to say this but just whimpered instead. His older brother gently set him on his bed. _Wait, when did we get to my room? Was Raph just gentle? Is this world going crazy? _

Leo was next to him, his hand on Mikey's freckled cheek. "I'm sorry, bro."

"What?" Mikey mumbled, sleep already over taking him. SO tired.

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Mikey didn't need to go on patrol that night, which he was just fine with and to be honest, it was perfect time to bring back Dr. Prankenstein because he had a great idea for a prank.

As soon as his brothers left, Mikey got up and got slightly dizzy as he walked out of his room and into Donnie's lab. He sat down at his computer and shook his head to fight off the dizzy spell and started trying to hack into the security system. It was password protected. The password was five letters long. Mikey snorted at how easy this was. He typed in the password. 'April'. And locked the front door and garage door. Mikey laughed and went to sit by the door. He needed to see this. _Maybe I am annoying. Hah!_


	3. Rule 2: eyes

**Okay, so the guy who I started to call Raphie doesn't want to be Raphie anymore because he doesn't want to be the angry mean one and if I were Raphie, I'd be insulted. But anyway, I started calling him Leo and now I need a Raphie. I suppose I could be Raphie and my friend Claudia could be Mikey because she's awesome, but Raphie finds Mikey annoying and we are both of the same caliber, unlike Mikey and Raphie but then I guess almost everyone I know is of the same caliber well that's not true but most of my friends are. But. . . what am I talking about? I'll just stay Mikey because I like him. So here is the second rule, it's never worked for me because I can't help laughing and that ruins it, but I'd get SO close. **

Rule 2- Don't be afraid to use the Puppy dog eyes

"Mikey, you shouldn't be going out on patrol. Your head might not yet be recovered and you straining your abilities could cause serious repercussions that will make it worse!" Donnie said, desperately trying to keep Mikey sitting and failing. The younger turtle jumped up and put his own hands on Donnie's shoulders. He looked into his eyes with mock seriousness.

"I am fine, Donatello." He said, trying to fight the grin that was forming.

"You imitating Leo does not make me feel better about this." Donnie shrugged Mikey's hands off. "You know how he is, pretending everything's fine when it's not just to assure us that- yeah, you're not like that." The genius thought about how Mikey liked to milk things just to get attention. He put his hands back on Mikey's shoulders and pushed him down into the seat again. "Just let me check up on you."

Mikey put his hand to his head in a salute and said, "Aye aye, Doctor Don!"

"If you were anybody else, I would think you were drunk or had brain damage." Donnie said as he pulled out his penlight, thinking about how Mikey slurred his speech, probably on purpose. Mikey's pupils dilated a bit too slow for Don's liking and he brought the light down, shaking his head.

Mikey's eyes grew wide. "No!" He yelled dramatically with much bravado. Donnie rolled his eyes. Mikey noticed his tactic wasn't going to work. He switched his approach. _Play him like a fiddle_ he told himself.

As Donatello was about to turn away, the blue eyed turtle grabbed his arm and forced the older to look at him. Those large baby blue colored eyes suddenly welled with tears and got impossibly large. They shone as they got rounder and larger than moons. His lip trembled as he whimpered, "Please, Donnie." His voice was so small and easily raised an octave.

Donnie sighed. Mikey knew this look made him crumble fast. He tried to look away but the little sniffle sounds Mikey was making forced him to look back into the eyes. The eyes! Donnie found himself wondering why he had made Mikey sad and if there were any puppies with blue eyes. If not, since it wasn't possible, then he should stop calling this look the 'Puppy dog eyes'. Besides, it wasn't even entirely the eyes that convinced him. Eyes are simply black dots, pupils; surrounded by a larger dot of a different color, irises; surrounded by another dot that was white, corneas. They were simply pads of fat surrounded by a skull. At least that was the case in humans. The mutagen had turned them human sized, and Donnie did read up on a lot of human biology. Human eyes were very similar to theirs. When looking at an object, light reflected from it enters the eye and is refracted. This creates a focused, upside-down image of the object that the brain will have to interpret and turn in the correct direction. Donnie could see himself upside down an tiny in those wide orbs. This doesn't make sense. Eyes are another part of the body. They're just circles. It took the entire face to look cute, yet he could not stop looking into the eyes. But now they were covered in a shiny layer of tears, surrounded by a creased brow, accompanied with the sounds of crying that hasn't started yet, and above a sniffly nose and trembling lip.

The brothers had all fallen prey to the Puppy dog eyes at one point or another, as had Splinter and April. The group had once gathered themselves in Donnie's lab and looked at cute pictures of puppies on the internet. April would coo once in a while, but after a couple glares, she stopped. They had been trying to steel themselves against Mikey's look. It didn't work. They always fell for it and gave him what he wanted.

And that's what Donnie did.

"Fine." He said. Mikey brightened up immediately and was suddenly devoid of any sadness. "But-" Donnie admonished as his brother tried to stand up. "You have to promise me you'll be careful."

Mikey scoffed. "Pshaw. When am I not careful?"

Donnie's expression was serious as he said, "I'm serious, Mikey."

Mikey shrugged. "Okay." He said, then grinned. "Being a big brother must suck, huh? Worrying about me all the time? Hah! Glad I don't have a younger brother, they are annoying."

Donnie smirked as Mikey ran to get his gear.

Coming out of his room swinging his nunchucks, Mikey was stopped by his oldest. Leo glared down at him. "Mikey, you're not going on patrol."

"Doctor Don cleared me. You should talk to him." Mikey answered.

"I did." Leo crossed his arms. "You used the puppy dog eyes?"

"Yes." Mikey said innocently as he absently swung his nunchaku.

"You're not going." Leo said. He turned on his heel and walked away. Mikey chased after him.

"Leo, come on, I'm fine! I'm so bored and my head is fine and I'm . . . fine. I'm all good, bro."

Leonardo turned on him. "Mikey, I seriously doubt that. I bet your head hurts like shell."

"How would you know that?" Mikey denied angrily.

"You 're wearing an elbow pad like a hat, Michelangelo." Leo said. Mikey quickly swiped the gear off his head, abashed. Leo grabbed his nunchaku. "You're clearly disoriented."

"Am not." Mikey said stubbornly.

"I doubt that. Mikey. . . I can't have you hurting yourself, or at the very least embarrassing yourself in front of some Foot ninjas." Leo crossed his arms with finality.

Mikey turned on the look.

Leo tried to stare him down. He narrowed his navy blue eyes and bored holes through the orange bandana. They stood like that for a long time. Neither knew how long, maybe five, ten minutes. Leo focused on trying to ignore the sad tears and sniffles coming from his youngest brother and with each passing minute, he found it more difficult to resist the stare which was increased by Mikey. He tried to imagine himself somewhere else; his room, the dojo, patrol, a fracking meadow. But he couldn't do that unless he closed his eyes, but they were locked with Mikey's and neither could even blink, despite the stinging tears coming to Leo's own irritated and dry eyes. Mikey knew he was winning. _I should use this more often_. He thought as he heard Leo breath, "Chikushou"

With one last sniffle, Leo relented, shoving the weapon into his brother's hands and saying, "You better not get hurt."

Mikey grinned. _I hope I get to use this on Raphie tonight_.

He didn't. Raph had had heard about Mikey taking advantage of his cuteness even more so tonight and avoided him altogether. _Smart boy, Raphie. Smart boy._


	4. Rule 3 More Like Mikey

**Ermahgurd is it February already!? My birthday is coming up. YAY! As well as Beatlemania day. Don't you people forget that February 7****th**** is the day that I have dubbed Beatlemania day so you honor them on that day. Or else. . . well, I can't really threaten you, now can I? **

**So I have been reading Outsiders fanfiction and I realized three things: 1: Soda and Darry are way too overprotective and sappy in most of them 2: There aren't enough fics featuring the Shepard boys and 3: People reading TMNT fanfiction probably don't care about my preferences in Outsiders Fanfiction so I digress. I just realized another thing. There's this songs playing right now and it goes, 'Doctor, doctor. Hand me the news. I gotta bad case of loving you'. And I always thought he was talking about loving the doctor since he mentioned the doctor right before he said he loved someone but now I'm thinking it might have just been an interjection, even though Doctors have no medical way of telling you're in love with someone and don't you hate it when people use 'your' when they mean 'you're' or 'there' when they mean 'they're'. Wow I got off topic quick. Sorry, now onto our rule three!**

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Rule 3- Crying will only work so many times

Young Michelangelo let out a sharp cry as his foot caught on a pipe and he tumbled forward, scraping his knee and banging his head painfully.

"Mikey?" Donnie's high pitched voice sounded out from a couple yards away, worriedly.

Mikey sat up and disentangled himself from the pipe and sat up, rubbing his head. Ow. That's gonna hurt in the morning. His knee was red surrounded by white which was surrounded by the light green color of the rest of his small leg. He was bleeding. Mikey didn't know what was happening. His skin had never been red before. He got really, really scared.

"Mikey, you okay?" Donnie asked, seeing the top of his baby brother's head over the pipe he had rushed over to. He could just barely see the orange bandana that had been given to him a couple weeks ago by Splinter that he hadn't taken off since, not even for sleep. It had worried Donnie at first, thinking it would get caught around Mikey's neck or something, but the youngest turtle had been surprisingly careful, probably fearing that if he wasn't, Splinter would take it away from him.

Mikey had been transfixed by the blood on his leg, but Donnie's voice got him back to reality and he threw his head back and howled.

"What is it, what's wrong?" Donnie practically squeaked as he ran around the pipe, deciding not to take his chances in jumping over it.

"Donnie! My knee. There's red stuff on me! I don't know where it came from! Help me, Donnie, help me!" He sobbed, clutching his brother's wrist in panic.

"Mikey, calm down! Calm! Down!" Donnie said as he wrapped his arms around the trembling turtle tot. "Are you calm yet?" He asked after a minute when Mikey's dry sobs had died down. The younger turtle nodded. "Okay," Donnie continued. "That red stuff is blood. It's natural. It's inside our bodies and it comes out when we cut ourselves." Mikey wrinkled his nose, whether it was in confusion or disgust, Donnie didn't know. He took a look at Mikey's knee. "That looks pretty bad. We should get home to try to clean it up." He said. Mikey nodded. Who knows what kinds of dirty filthy yuck were on the sewer floors that could infect his cut.

Donnie helped his brother up, but they were down again a split second later as a wave of dizziness washed over Mikey and he sat back down, holding his head again. He groaned. Black spots danced in his vision and he could faintly hear Donnie asking him what was wrong, but as if off in the distance.

"Mikey? You okay, bro?" Don asked. Mikey stared into space (or sewer, rather) for a moment before Donnie's voice reached him through the din and Mikey blinked and looked at him.

"My head hurts." Mikey groaned, his hand still at the source of the pounding.

"Did you hit your head?" Donnie was suddenly very concerned. He wasn't quite sure how to treat a concussion. Splinter had been teaching him first aid, but there was only so much a five year old turtle could retain.

Mikey nodded. "I'm dizzy."

Donnie gulped. "Let's get you home." He repeated, trying again to stand and pull Mikey up to no avail. Mikey was determined to stay put.

"Can't get up," He complained in a slurred voice.

Mikey was possibly the most stubborn of them all. If he didn't want to get up, he wasn't getting up. Donnie stood on his own and looked around. He could get Splinter and bring him back to take care of Mikey's injury, or get Raphie or Leo to carry him back so that Donnie could look up how to do it in case Splinter wasn't there. He started to formulate the directions back to the lair, but suddenly realized that he and Mikey had been exploring. He racked his genius brain but found he couldn't remember the way back through all the panic he was feeling.

_Uh oh_.

Mikey noticed that the pain or fear he was feeling wasn't going away. That was odd. Donnie never let him be sad or scared for too long. Donnie always made him feel better. Well, that was only when he cried. So he did just that. It was the only thing he could do. He let tears once again flow freely down his small green face. This always made things better. As soon as the tears flowed, someone would be there to chase away the darkness and cruelty. It was often Splinter, but sometimes it was Leo or Donnie. Heck, even Raph would be there to help him.

Mikey looked up at Donnie, desperately willing his brother to look down and see that he was scared. What scared him most, however, was the panic -stricken face that glared down at him.

"Shut up, Mikey." He snapped. Mikey was severely surprised. That wasn't Donnie. That was too mean to be Donnie. Donnie would _never _say something like that to his only little brother. Donnie was always the most understanding. Mikey was certain he had imagined those words when, unfortunately, Donnie spoke again, this time harsher. "Stop being such a baby. Crying doesn't help anything, it's just annoying. So quit it." He said the last statement forcefully and Mikey was so stunned he couldn't do anything but gape at the frustrated form of his usually placating older brother.

_This is a dream. Donnie would never say that to me_. Mikey thought as his miserable sniffling silenced with a glare from Don. Boy, was he stressed.

Donnie immediately regretted every word he said as soon as he stood up from Mikey. He turned around to apologize, but found to his horror that Mikey had cried (well, sniffled) himself to sleep.

_No, no, no. Not good!_ Donnie knew that sleeping with a head injury was very, very bad. It could cause Mikey to go into a sleep where he probably wouldn't wake up. What was it called again? A coma. _I hate being a genius. I should be able to do something. Instead I get mad and ostracize him for being a baby. I'll tell you what a genius is. A useless egotist, walking around with their big words and condescending manner._ Donnie wasn't quite sure what most of those words meant, but he knew he had used them right. He couldn't go for help now. He had to get Mikey home. Or at least wake him up. And keep him up.

He dropped to his knees and gave the limp turtle tot a shake. "Mikey?" He asked, suddenly realizing how small his voice was. He was only five. And, frack, Mikey was only four. They were too young to deal with this.

Mikey wouldn't wake up and Donnie found himself too weak with panic, guilt, and shame to force his legs to move. He simply leaned against the wall with Mikey in his lap and thought, _Sensei will be here. He'll fix this. Sensei will fix this. He fixes everything_.

Donnie fell asleep, still clutching Mikey in his lap. _Sensei will fix everything_. He hadn't realized a few tears were escaping his eyes until they slipped down his face, and he was still half conscious as he thought, _you hypocrite_.

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"Donnie and Mikey said they would only be exploring," Raph complained as Splinter led the way through the tunnels, looking for the two youngest turtles. Their sensei had dragged them out of the lair in search of Donatello and Michelangelo , claiming something was wrong.

"Sensei, what is the matter?" Leo asked, trotting to keep up with Splinter's gait. His sensei looked slightly panicked as he searched for his sons, but he was keeping it contained under his façade of aloofness. Leo could sense something was wrong, and was slightly panicked as well.

"One of my sons is crying." Splinter said.

"Maybe it's just Mikey overreacting." Raph grumbled, crossing his arms with a huff.

"No, something is wrong. Where are they?" Splinter muttered the last part to himself. Leo was looking around memorizing the path they were taking and each twist and turn so they wouldn't get lost. It was very easy in the dark, dank sewer.

They rounded a corner and suddenly Raph flew by them yelling, "Mikey! Donnie!" The second turtle opened his eyes blearily and let out a sob of relief when he saw Splinter.

Raph slid on his knees and reached out to take Mikey from Don as Donnie scrambled to his feet. "Mikey hit his head. I told him not to fall asleep. I tried. . . I – I'm sorry, sensei." He buried his face in his sensei's robe while Raph shook Mikey in his arms.

"Mikey? Wake up, bro." Raph grumbled desperately as Leo dropped down beside him. Donnie raised his tear stained face and Splinter took Mikey away from Raph. He lifted him up and the three remaining turtles scrambled to their feet.

They started to follow their sensei but Donnie stumbled over his feet. Leo reached out and grabbed his arm to steady him. Then he hugged him in an effort to stop the sudden onslaught of tears that assaulted his plastron.

"Shhh, Don. It's okay. Calm down, it's okay." Leo stroked his head. Splinter and Raph stopped and turned around.

"My son," Splinter said.

"I'm o-okay" Donnie hiccupped.

"My son, it is alright to cry. There is no shame as long as it does not interrupt anything important, that is." Splinter said.

"Important, like now?" Raph mumbled. Splinter shot him a glare but turned away from the sniffling Donnie who had Leo's arm around his shoulder.

"Leonardo, you were memorizing the way back?"

"Hai, sensei."

"Which way?"

Leo led the way, pulling the second youngest with him.

"I yelled at him, Leo." Donnie whispered so that only Leo could hear. "I told him to stop being a baby. And look at me now. How hypocritical."

"How what?" Leo whispered back. He could tell Donnie didn't want anyone else to hear them.

"Hypocritical: Hypocritical is a word that denotes someone with the nature of hypocrisy. It refers to the state of pretending to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs that one does not have. Hypocrisy involves the dishonesty of others and is thus a kind of lie." Donnie stated, sounding like a dictionary in monotone.

"Oh. I don't see how you crying makes you hypocritical." Leo said. Damn, that kid was smart. Five years old and he could recite the dictionary word for word.

"Well I do," Donnie said simply.

"Well, if it helps, I think that's how Splinter found you." Leo said and he looked down to see the expression of confusion and shock on his face. That was something that didn't grace Donnie's features often.

"How?"

"Sensei said he could sense that one of his sons was crying," Leo said. "He dragged us out of the lair to find you guys."

"He could sense us?" Donnie mused. He had been crying like Mikey and it had gotten them help?

_I should act like Mikey more often_


	5. Rule 4 Phobias

**Heeeeeeeeeey, I'm back. Sorry for being absent so long but I guess I was busy, plus my power going out for 80 hours and 29 minutes during an ice storm (I calculated the exact number because I was SO bored!). But guess what! Today is my BIRTHDAY! I am no longer thirteen ( ) and I am going to a birthday party today that is not for me. Happy belated Chocolate Day (Not Valentine's day for me) and now onto the story. **

**TMNTTMNTTMNTTMNTTMNTTMNTTMNTTMNTTMNT**

Rule 4- Just because you think you can fit in small spaces doesn't mean you should try

It seemed perfectly logical. Well, Mikey was the youngest and the shortest. He should have been able to fit. Well, did do that but it appeared he couldn't get out. Mikey huffed in annoyance and embarrassment. Well wasn't this just great?

It started when the brothers had been heading out for patrol. They were still in the sewers when they passed a somewhat bulky pipe that seemed to be meowing. Mikey thought about his cat Klunk and almost panicked. He cried out Klunk's name and ran to the pipe before any of his brothers could stop him. The youngest turtle leaned down and looked in the pipe to see a once white but now stained with brown furred cats, sitting calmly in the pipe, looking back at him. Mikey breathed a sigh of relief.

"Not Klunk," He whispered to himself. Leo, Don and Raph were watching him at a distance.

"Uh, Mikey, whatcha doing?" Raph asked as Mikey started to climb into the pipe. He looked back at his brothers.

"I'm getting the cat." He said as if it were obvious. He couldn't just leave the poor filth ridden feline to rot in the disgusting sewers. _How did it even get down there anyway?_ Mikey shrugged off the question. It really didn't matter. This cat was in trouble, dirty, possibly hurt and Michelangelo would save him. . . or her. He couldn't tell from where he was.

"Just don't get stuck, Mikey." Donnie piped up. _That would really suck, wouldn't it? _Mikey thought.

_You know, if this cat is a girl, then she can be Klunk's girlfriend. And then they could have little orange and white kitties! Or if it's a guy he can be Klunk's best friend! And they could fight each other and spar like my brothers and I do. Or maybe . . . _

Mikey's inner monologue was cut off when the cat dashed away, like a white and brown streak disappearing into the sewers. _Maybe not_. Mikey thought sadly as he wiggled back. He suddenly realized something.

He had a shell.

If Raph had heard that, well there'd be no end to the teasing. Of course he had a shell. He was a turtle after all. But when he was determining if he could fit, he didn't take his shell into account. _A human could fit_. Mikey thought as he pouted.

"Uh, dudes?" Mikey called.

Donnie groaned. "Stuck?"

". . . Yeah." Mikey admitted.

Raph stared to laugh at that point. Why did this remind him of when Winnie the Pooh got his head stuck in the honey tree? Mikey was Winnie, the pipe was the tree, and the AWOL cat was the honey. AWOL. . . ? _Did I use that right?_ Raph thought. _Ah, who gives a shit_.

Leo and Donnie looked barely able to control their laughter at the sight of the bottom half of Mikey hanging out of the pipe.

"I wish I had a camera!" Raph wiped tears out of his eyes as he controlled his mirth.

"Stop being mean, Raphie!" Mikey pouted further. "Can you guys just help me?"

"Well, Mikey your shell seems to be stuck in the pipe so trying to pull you out will only do further damage," Donnie mused as he walked around the pipe. "Ah ha! Got it!"

"Got what?" Came Mikey's muffled voice.

"The pipe is held together by bolts through the side. If I can unscrew those and lift off the top part, you'll be good." Donnie said, giving the pipe a pat as if it were Michelangelo's head.

"Right. . . You guys do that, Raph and I will head up topside for patrol." Leo instructed, watching Mikey's body sag in disappointment. "You two can catch up later."

Don nodded and stood, ready to go get his tools, but Mikey's small voice stopped him in his tracks. "Please don't leave me," Mikey sniffed.

"Mikey, I have to get my tools, then get you out of there." Donnie said. "I promise I'll come back." And with that he rushed back to the lair, Mikey's plea echoing in his brain and making him go faster. Michelangelo was an Achluophobiac (Fear of the dark) as well as an Isolophobiac (fear of being alone) and a combination of those two in a dark, scary sewer was just not good.

Don burst through the door of the lair, startling their senei a bit but not caring as he ran to his lab. Once he grabbed his tool box, he ran back out, the box thumping against his leg. He was stopped by a furry paw on his plastron.

"Donatello, what is the matter?" Master Splinter asked with urgency.

"Mikey, he got stuck in a pipe." Donnie answered quickly. Master Splinter's tense face melted into mild amusement.

"Alright, go on then." He chuckled, ushering Donnie out the door.

As soon as Donnie got back to the spot he left Mikey, he could hear whimpers coming from his brother's 'prison'.

"Don't worry, Mikey." Don said as he set his tool box down and got to work on the bolts and screws. Soon, his little brother was free and sobbing in Donnie's arms. He was really shaken up. . .

_I guess an amalgamation of his two greatest fears were very fun.. ._ Donnie thought as he hushed Mikey and stroked his green head. What a ninja.

"Mikey, please don't do that again." Donnie murmured and Mikey nodded vehemently. No way in hell. No cat was worth that.


End file.
